


You Make Me Feel Safe

by athenril_of_kirkwall (al_fletcher)



Series: Aether Effect [3]
Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II, Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Angst, Dragon Age Drunk Writing Circle, Dragon Age II - Legacy DLC, Dragon Age: Inquisition Quest - Here Lies the Abyss, F/M, Fluff, Post-Dragon Age II, Prompt Fic, Romance, Starkhaven, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-05
Updated: 2019-01-05
Packaged: 2019-10-03 22:01:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17292230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/al_fletcher/pseuds/athenril_of_kirkwall
Summary: The Prince and Lady of Starkhaven share a quiet moment together.





	You Make Me Feel Safe

It wasn’t until recently that waking up alone was a concerning experience for Sebastian.

In the grand scheme of things, even back in the hedonistic days of his youth, his nightly dalliances had been such frivolous and physical matters that it was more often than not that whoever he’d brought to his quarters would inevitably be gone, whether by their own volition or shooed away by his minders.

Of course, once his family had put up with that as much as they were able and shoved him into a chantry that had been the end of it, with the bland quarters afforded to the brothers not even so much as permitting the space even if his devotions to his vows started flagging, regardless of whether he was in Starkhaven or Kirkwall.

That had all changed when everything had burnt up in flames, starting with the Chantry, and it had become manifestly clear to Hawke and his companions that it was time to leave. Given the obvious evidence before his eyes, Hawke had seen fit to trust Sebastian with his sister, who was nothing better than a fugitive apostate after Meredith’s insane decision, and the two of them had left for Starkhaven. After yet more intrigues he had finally foiled the last of the Harrimans’ intrigues and reclaimed his title, gaining a dispensation from the Grand Cleric to marry her. That had been nothing short of a miracle, given that its notaries were a Chantry brother and a mage.

In essence, the problem here was that his wife, Lady Bethany of Starkhaven, was missing from their bed, divided as it was by a bolster sewn into the lining of the sheets.

Rolling over to the source of the chill wind blowing in, he found her standing on the balcony outside dressed only in her shift, staring out into the direction of the Vimmark Mountains. Blinking away his grogginess, he picked himself up off the bed, throwing on his robe and gently draping a blanket over Bethany’s shoulders like a mantle.

Gently hugging her from the side – Chantry vows thankfully were rather vague on the whole _cuddling_ thing – he asked her, “What’s the problem, love?”

“Couldn’t sleep,” she muttered.

“Was it Meghan?” Sebastian asked, tilting his head to the other room.

“No, no,” Bethany said, shaking her head. “I think Goran and Flora are getting through to her, just a little bit.”

“I know you still find it rather unsettling,” he said, adding, “Maker knows I do. My dear cousin’s done a marvellous job as seneschal, and at least we’ll have staved off the-”

“The succession dispute, for another generation, yes,” Bethany said, cutting him short. “Yes, Seb, I know. I was there. We’ll have to raise her at some point, you understand, or we’ll be facing the same thing all over again if some other gang of schemers gets their hooks in her.”

“Like she was our own,” he said.

“Like our own…” Bethany echoed his words, trailing off as she mentally counted the peaks between the keep and horizon, her silence revealing many unsaid doubts and concerns.

Gently turning her to face him, he asked, “Are you…happy?”

Looking up at him with eyes reddened with sleeplessness and tears, she said collapsing into his chest, “Yes, Sebastian, I am. Given everything, there’s no other place I’d rather be.”

“And given…everything else?”

She was silent, simply pressing her cheek into his bare chest. “I don’t know, Sebastian. Things could have gone in so many other ways…every morning I wake up is a blessing, a reminder of how lucky we were to survive.”

He hugged her, clutching his wife tight to him. “The dawn will come.”

She nodded, her hair brushing against his chin. “The dawn will come.”

 “If it wasn’t Meghan keeping you up, what was it then?” Sebastian asked Bethany as he released her.

“My brother.”

He paused, pressing on, “Hawke the _Elder_? What news is there?”

Wiping under her eyes, she explained. “A hooded courier arrived before we went to sleep. He’s involved in some very deep intrigue. It has to do with the Wardens.”

“The Wardens? Have they gotten involved in the matter of the Breach?”

“I think so,” she said, continuing, “He couldn’t say much at all save that he was writing from somewhere around the Western Approach. And he wrote about…about our legacy.”

“Your…legacy?” Sebastian asked, confused.

“Corypheus.”

“Corypheus? The magister responsible for the Breach? How is he your ‘legacy’?”

A fresh wave of tears sparkling in her eyes, Bethany walked back to their bed, seemingly deflating as she sat down on its edge. “It’s a long story, and one before your time. Our father, Malcolm, was a Warden, and he used…blood magic…to seal Corypheus up in an ancient prison. But Corypheus, he was too powerful to bind, and he’d corrupted the Wardens, tricking them into breaking the seals many years later. Hawke thought he’d settled the matter by slaying Corypheus. Evidently not.”

He gazed distractedly at the ground, muttering, “Evidently not.”

She looked up at him with imploring eyes. “Yes, our father was a maleficar. I’m so sorry, Sebastian. Please don’t-”

Cutting her pleading short, he sat by her, clutching her tight to him and kissing her on the cheek. “I never would. Those were the decisions, and the errors of the past. Your father’s mistakes, and those of the Wardens, are not yours, nor are they Hawke’s. In fact, I assume his actions now are aimed at rectifying those very mistakes.”

She nodded quietly, cleaning the fresh tears off the old ones, asking him, “When will we ever be free from the mistakes of our ancestors?”

“Never,” he said grimly. “That’s what history is.”

Bethany shuddered as she leaned into Sebastian, taking him by his arms. “I’m so scared, Sebastian.”

“Hush…” he whispered, stroking her hair.

“An ancient evil has torn the sky open in my homeland, and Hawke is right in the middle of the storm once again, and all because of our father’s decisions. They say he’s got an _archdemon_ , Sebastian. We all fled to Kirkwall because of the last Blight. What if this is the next one? Where will we go? What will we do?”

“Further north, methinks. Maybe we’ll surprise the darkspawn by heading right into the Anderfels. They’ll never see it coming.”

She admitted herself a little smile. “I see the years with my brother have paid off, as far as developing a funny bone goes.”

“Hawke is good for the occasional thing, yes. As for us, Starkhaven’s walls are strong, its men and women stronger, and so long as I’m here, nothing save the Void itself would prevent me from defending us till the very end.”

Bethany hugged him, leading him down across the bed until they were laying their heads on the bolster that was supposed to denote, or at least signify, their vows. She leaned into him, pecking him on the lips in an innocent kiss.

“You make me feel safe, dear.”

“And you, my love. So long as we’re together.”

“Yes.” Pressing their foreheads together, she locked her gaze with his as a distant gurgle sounded. “Oh, I think that’s Meghan, seeing as you’re so concerned with her.”

“Heh,” Sebastian said, smiling. “I think Goran can handle her.”

“Why, is the brave holy warrior scared of a restless baby?”

“Absolutely terrified, my love. Thank Andraste I have you to keep me safe.”

Feet shuffled in the room over and a bottle of milk rattled as it was drawn from a cupboard kept next to the hearth. Meanwhile, in Sebastian and Bethany’s own chambers, the loving couple fell asleep in an embrace which might have tested the limits of their dispensation if anyone had bothered – or dared – to check in on them.

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr: https://athenril-of-kirkwall.tumblr.com/post/181724637680


End file.
